Vision developed for Platt Road site includes open space and mixed-income housing

We came up with what I think is a much more innovative and community aligned design concept than we would have otherwise

A final vision has emerged after a three-day public input process on the future of a site at the corner of Platt Road and Huron Parkway on the east side of Ann Arbor.

A plan presented Thursday evening included open spaces with public access, a community center and 90 to 110 housing units—including 50 units designed for seniors.

“There will be a number of different types of housing units and they will be a variety of sizes so you attract different types of people to live there. You might have a family living next to a senior citizen living next to a single professional,” Cheryl Zuellig, the lead representative of design firm SmithGroupJJR, said.

“That was probably the biggest concept that came out of the plan.”

About 60 people gathered in the Washtenaw County United Way offices across the street from the former Juvenile Detention Center to see the outcome of a charrette.

“This is just a ‘final’ vision. It’s not the final design, it isn’t really a final anything,” Callan said during a question and answer period.

“It’s one recommended vision that the board will be able to look at when it’s deciding what to do with this property.”

The Board of Commissioners created the CAC— which was made up of four residents who live in close proximity to the site, four other county residents, two Washtenaw County staff members and two commissioners—in September 2013 to help the board decide what to do with the property.

The commission developed a set of guiding principals that it believed should apply to the site.

A resolution presented to, and approved by, the Board of Commissioners listed the principals as: demonstration for green technologies and sustainable design, mixed use, mixed income including affordable and moderately priced housing, minimized parking spaces, alternative transit, varied types and forms of housing for people of different ages, an urban village, less impervious surface, lower auto footprint, integration with neighborhood, visionary design, draws people to the site, opportunities to grow businesses, and connections to County Farm Park.

The presented vision includes duplexes, single-family homes, townhouses and a senior living center that could include assisted and independent living units. The vision calls for mixed-income use including some units designated as affordable housing units, though it did not specify what units those would be or what level of affordable housing they would entail.

The vision also includes an open area on the south side of the site that would be accessibly to the public and would include a wetland and a network of trails.

A group of about 10 people gathered after the presentation to express their frustration with what they felt was a process that excluded their points of view.

“The biggest issue we have with all of this is that while the charrette was a great idea for them to do, it really handcuffed a lot of us,” Trish Heusel, who lives near the site, said. “The ingoing assumption on the organizer’s part was that the final design had to include housing or specifically affordable housing.”

The small group said they want to see the parcel reintegrated into the adjacent County Farm Park and are planning to form an official organization to oppose development on the site.

“I feel like I wasted three evenings of my week coming here to discuss the use of the land when it was decided already what it was going to be,” Mallory said.

“I don’t think the plan they came up with really fits into the adjacent neighborhood. We don’t have townhouses and we don’t have big rental properties.”

Callan said that throughout the three-day period, facilitators emphasized that they were looking to work within the principals outlined by the CAC, which included a call for residential development.

The event consisted of a visioning session Tuesday evening attended by at least 75 community members and drop-in hours on Wednesday, during which more than 100 people came to share their thoughts on the space.

“Folks had strong opinions and strong visions of what they believed should happen, and that’s democracy. I really understand that some are disappointed,” she said.

“We really felt like we were consistent with what we laid out. It wasn’t popular with everyone but we were trying to move towards a general consensus and I think we did that.”

While the vision does include mixed types of housing, it did not include any space specifically designated for retail or commercial development. Callan said an economist hired by the county had determined that the location would not support an extensive retail component.

“What clearly came back from the study is this should be a residential focused development,” she said.

“Most mixed use would not be appropriate for the site, such as retail. Fronting Platt Road is not going to get you enough traffic to keep a business going.”

Many attendees who had been to multiple days of the charrette said they were pleased with the outcome.

“I like the idea,” Jim Sterken said. “Most of it will have to be done privately, but I really like the idea of the county taking the lead on an example of a really nice mixed-use area.”

Others in the room, including some who lived near the site and some from other areas of the county, said they were hoping for even more development to accommodate affordable housing needs in the region.

“I talked with people who were here on Wednesday, checked out each of the designs and I voted. I’m glad that the higher density plan was picked,” Greg Pratt, who lives in a neighborhood across the street from the site, said.

“I think that the mixed income focus, it seems to be a way of catering to folks who don’t want affordable housing in the area. I understand that, but I think it’s unfortunate. I see such a great need for housing for people with low incomes in our community.”

Zuellig said that the next step is for the CAC to more closely examine the vision and then to bring it to the Board of Commissioners, which can decide to adopt all or part of the idea.

“They can put out an RFP with certain conditions, and they can be very general, or they can be very specific,” Zuellig said.

“It could be very prescriptive if they decide they really like the vision that’s been laid out, or they could just decide to sell it without stipulations.”

The board could vote on what to do with the 13.6-acre parcel as soon as this fall, or could take more time to deliberate before coming to a decision sometime in 2015 or beyond.

“I think government should to more of this kind of community engagement,” Callan said after the presentation and feedback sessions.

“It’s hard because we don’t always have the resources or the time, but even though we know that the only certain outcome is that not everyone will be happy, we came up with what I think is a much more innovative and community aligned design concept than we would have otherwise.”

Ben Freed is a general assignments reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Email him at benfreed@mlive.com and follow him on twitter at @BFreedinA2. He also answers the phone at 734-623-2528.